Ministerial Foreword

The public sector has a central role to play in tackling poverty
and inequality and many of our key partners are already well ahead
of the game. This is visible in the wider context of public service
reform, in the everyday operation of Scottish local authorities as
they provide critical services in their communities, in the
pioneering work of Fairness Commissions, and in the innovative work
of
NHS Boards to
support low income households on maximising incomes.

These efforts are very welcome, but we need to do more. Over a
million people are living in poverty in Scotland, including one in
four children; and inequalities of income and wealth are far too
wide. This unfairness simply isn't acceptable in a country as rich
as Scotland - so I want to make sure that, wherever we can, we are
taking action across the country to reduce poverty and inequality
in a systematic way.

That's why the Scottish Government is bringing forward a new
socio-economic duty for the public sector. This duty means that key
public bodies - like local councils and the
NHS - will have
to think carefully about how they can reduce poverty and inequality
whenever they make the big decisions that are important to all of
us. These decisions include, for example, an economic development
plan; or an annual budget setting out spending priorities.

Public bodies will need to be able to show that they
understand the key socio-economic inequality gaps
that exist
and that they've
taken account of them in the decisions they
make.

I know that many in the public sector support the introduction
of the duty as a way to work more systematically on these issues.
My view is that looking through the lens of poverty and inequality
will lead to better decisions for the future.

In October last year, the Scottish Government published the
Fairer Scotland Action Plan (
FSAP), which
set out 50 concrete actions to tackle poverty and inequality. The
introduction of the duty was Action 1 within that plan and we
committed then to consult on the duty because we want to make sure
we get implementation right. Thanks in advance for your help,
through this consultation, in making sure this duty works in
practice.

When the duty is introduced later this year, Scotland will be
the first and only part of the
UK to have this, the
'missing' part of the Equality Act 2010 in place. This is a great
opportunity to shift up a gear and do even more to make Scotland a
more equal and a fairer country.

Angela Constance
Cabinet Secretary For Communities, Social Security And
Equalities